Santorum's Puerto Rico history

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico — Earlier this week, Rick Santorum raised eyebrows while campaigning here by bragging that he used to be called “Senador Puertorriqueño” while in Congress.

It’s a strange turn of phrase for a former House member and ex-senator from Pennsylvania who ignited controversy this week by declaring that the local government would need to require that residents speak English before Puerto Rico could become a U.S. state.

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It turns out that Santorum and Puerto Rico did have a warm relationship while he served in the Senate. Although the former lawmaker has since recanted his support for the overall bill, Santorum at the time championed — and voted for — the 2003 Medicare overhaul, including a costly amendment to increase Medicare reimbursement rates for Puerto Rican hospitals.

He worked at the time with now-Gov. Luis Fortuño, who was then the island’s resident commissioner in Washington, D.C., and the two even attended the same Catholic church.

Fortuño is not really repaying the friendship: He’s backing Mitt Romney in tomorrow’s presidential primary here, but the governor did visit with Santorum earlier this week and once had kind words for the former senator.

“I am grateful for Sen. Santorum’s continued leadership and support, not just on the Puerto Rico Medicare issue, but on all issues affecting the 4 million U.S. citizens residing on the island,” Fortuño said in an April 2005 statement. “Given Puerto Rico’s lack of representation in the U.S. Senate, we count on friends like Senator Santorum and Senator Landrieu to champion issues on behalf of the people of Puerto Rico.”

But following the English-only kerfuffle, Fortuño took a swipe this week at his old friend.

“I would have handled the question differently — quite differently — from Sen. Santorum because I would have been clear that there are two official languages here,” Fortuño told POLITICO. “I don’t know why he said what he said, but at the end of the day, I think it’s a states rights issue as well.”

Nonetheless, Santorum insisted this week that he once worked hard for Puerto Rican residents, who don’t have any formal representation in Congress, only a nonvoting delegate.

“I was referred to by many in my state as Senador Puertorriqueño,” Santorum said in San Juan. “They used to make fun of me. ‘Why are you representing Puerto Rico’? Well, someone has to because they don’t have a voice. … I felt a responsibility to the island.”